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ecosploring
26|
ecosploring | 27
When visitors talk of the “secret” they discovered in South Walton, they don’t
just mean our sugar-white sand, turquoise water and award-winning
architecture. In South Walton, there’s no shortage of nature surrounding and
encompassing our beach communities because 40% of all lands are held in
preservation. Opportunities among the forest, trails and lakes found in our
16 beach neighborhoods are abundant for nature adventures and eco-tours.
Thanks to the forward-thinking leadership in Walton County, a plethora of
natural escapes have been preserved for our community. South Walton is one
of a handful of places on Earth with coastal dune lakes, which are rare bodies
of brackish waters that open to the Gulf — and we have 15 of them! As featured
in the 2015 PBS documentary Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida’s Emerald
Coast, visitors and locals can embrace these treasured lakes for kayaking,
swimming, fishing or stand-up paddleboarding. Or, take your adventure to
the trails of one of South Walton’s many state parks, where bikers, joggers
and hikers enjoy local history, wildlife and wild places!
WILD WONDER
GRAYTON BEACH
ecosploring
WATERCOLOR
ALYS BEACH
SANTA ROSA BEACH
“I could be mountain
biking on a trail
for one minute
and paddling
on a dune lake
five minutes later.”
joe godbee,
local water sports instructor
• Forty percent of South Walton is state-owned and protected
from future development — 25 ,000 acres of untouched property
where native wildlife flourishes.
• South Walton is positioned between the Choctawhatchee Bay
and the Gulf of Mexico, providing plentiful opportunities for
both freshwater and saltwater recreational activities, including
year-round fishing.
• Nestled throughout South Walton are 200 miles of hiking
and biking trails winding through state forests, state parks
and public-private greenways. The area is also home to one of
the largest longleaf pine forests in the world.
• South Walton is home to the largest concentration of rare coastal
dune lakes in the world. These 15 lakes have been identified
as globally rare and imperiled by the Florida Natural Areas
Inventory (FNAI). Similar ecosystems can only be found in Africa,
Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and the Northwest Pacific
Coast of the United States .
• The area’s four state parks and one state forest offer vast open
space for hiking, biking, camping, picnicking, canoeing or
kayaking. The parks and forest are also included in the Great
Florida Birding Trail.
South Walton Nature at a Glance